Red One: Release date, plot, cast, trailer, & more

Festivities are coming early this year with Dwayne Johnson’s Christmas movie, Red One. It’s been a long time coming, but it now has a release date and a trailer.

Amazon’s gift to its A-listers this year? A $250 million holiday film starring The Rock, Chris Evans, and J.K. Simmons – our stockings are looking worse by the minute.

With an edgy, ripped, take on Santa Claus, the action movie will try to convince us that sleigh bells and grenade launchers go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Red One faced lengthy delays but director Jake Kasdan’s new movie is officially coming in 2024, just in time for Christmas.

Red One release date

The Red One release date is November 15, 2024, in US cinemas.

Amazon MGM Studios

Select countries (Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Netherlands) will get it a day earlier, while the UK, Mexico, and Turkey’s release dates are the same as the US.

The film is theatres-only, meaning it won’t be available on any streaming services upon initial release.

Cast

The Red One cast features Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J.K. Simmons, Bonnie Hunt, and Kiernan Shipka.

Amazon MGM Studios

As for who plays Santa Claus in Red One, Simmons (Whiplash, Juno, Spider-Man) takes the mantle, with Bonnie Hunt (Jumanji, Jerry Maguire, The Green Mile) as his wife, Mrs. Claus.

Red One cast:

• Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift
• Chris Evans as Jack O’Malley
• Lucy Liu as Zoe
• J.K. Simmons as Nick
• Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus
• Kristofer Hivju as Krampus
• Kiernan Shipka
• Mary Elizabeth Ellis
• Wesley Kimmel
• Nick Kroll
• Wyatt Hunt as Young Jack
• Clayton Cooper as Young Jack’s Cousin
• Lanz Duffy as Gene
• Marc Evan Jackson as Uncle Rick
• Makana David as Barista
• Samantha Benson as Christine

Red One plot

The Red One plot is about Callum Drift (Johnson), an E.L.F. North Pole Command Center operative, who’s tasked with finding the missing Santa Claus.

Amazon MGM Studios

E.L.F.’s (Extremely Large and Formidable) head of security joins forces with the world’s most accomplished tracker, Jack O’Malley (Evans).

Together, they embark on a globe-trotting adventure to find Nick and save Christmas. One wrinkle, though: Santa’s not just missing, he was kidnapped.

If all goes well with this film, it’s thought Johnson is planning a franchise for Red One. We’ll have to see what audiences think first, though.

Red One trailer

Amazon MGM Studios released the first full Red One trailer on June 25, 2024. It’s just under three minutes long.

The footage showed off the film’s overly-friendly reindeer, characters, and revealed that ‘Red One’ is Nick’s codename.

Red One runtime

Red One is 2 hours and 2 minutes long.

It’s not a super-snappy 90-minute venture, but also not nearly as long as some of the 3-hour blockbusters of 2024.

Age rating

Red One is rated PG-13.

The Christmas movie features lots of action, but the age rating is PG-13, making it family-friendly.

For more, check out if The Christmas Chronicles 3 is happening, the best Christmas horror movies, or the best Christmas movies on Netflix. Not ready for sleighbells yet? See our list of the best movies of all time.